LUMSHYNNA CAVE

(Shella Bholaganj - IN)
25.303300,91.727200
Grottocenter / carte

Description

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 07/04/2016

A stream cave draining to south-west is characterised by a three-dimensional anastomosing maze clustered around two stream cave passages which drain generally north-east to south-west. ETYMOLOGY: "Krem Lawkhlieng" (note 1) or »Cave [in the] Forest [of the] Eagle [or Kite]« is, perhaps, best clothed into English as »Eagle-Wood Cave« (note 2). The site in the jungle high up in east-facing cliff above the locally 800 m to 850 m deep incised canyon of the Umstew indeed would be a convenient place for eagles or kites to take off (note 3) but was selected to establish the »Arwah Lumshynna Tourist Hub« (note 4). Part of the cave was developed into a managed show cave complete with a choice of two footpaths leading from the road to the cave and an entrance fee (IRs 10 in January 2015), electric illumination and an official »Inauguration of Tourist Hub at Arwah Lumshynna, Pdengshnong, Sohra, 25th Oct 2014« (note 5). So far (2015.03.23), I found Krem Lawkhlieng (Kharpran Daly, B D 1997.03.13 Mss: "Twenty-five caves located" item no. 18) also referred to by the following names: Cave at Arwah Internet (accessed 2015.03.02) Arwah Cave Internet (accessed 2015.03.02) Arwah Cave Lumshynna Scherzer, H (2015.04.01 Mss "Tagebuch" Fr 23.01.2015) Arwah Caves sauvikbiswas.com/tag/cave-exploration (posted 2014.12.17; accessed 2015.03.02) Arwah Lum Shynna Lindenmayr, F (circa 2015.02.11 s.a. Mss: Meghalaya 2015) Arwah Lumshynna Cave speleoclubsaulges.blogspot.com (accessed 2015.03.01) Krem Hawkhlieng KHYLLEP, W (1996.02.24). Krem Lawkhieng BROOKS, S J (2000b: 2). Krem Lawkhlieng Kharpran Daly, B D (1997.03.13 Mss: "Twenty-five caves located" item no. 18). Krem Lawknleing Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J & GEBAUER, H D (1998: 31). Pubon ha Lumshynna facebook.com/bitorjot/posts/726238654130813 (accessed 2015.03.01). Lumshynna Cave Government of Meghalaya, Soil and Water Conseration Department (signboard, probably put up in October 2014, photograph ML_ 412.jpg by Scherzer, H 2015.01.23).SITUATION: At travelling distances of 48.5 km (Survey of India sheet 78-O/11 edition 1974) approximately south along the road from Shillong and about 4 km north of Sohra (Cherrapunjee), the cave entrances of Krem Lawkhlieng lies on the one-hand side at the base of Lum Shynna (note 6), a residual hill of Eocene (Lower Sylhet) Cherra Limestone that rests on the comparatively more resistant base of Cherra (Mahadek) Sandstone, but on the other hand at perched location close to the edge high above the locally 800 m to 850 m deep canyon of the Umstew / Um Stew (note 7). The hill lies about 2 km or 2.5 km north from the road fork to Dainthlen (water falls), and at about halfway between Laitryngew (25°19'30”N: 91°44'E) and Sohra Pdengshnong (Cherra Bazar, 25°16'52”N: 91°43'20”E). POSITION 2015: WGS84 (unidentified precision error) 25°18'11.8”N: 91°43'38.0”E / 25.303278°N: 91.727222°E (Scherzer H 2015.01.22 GPS Garmin Etrex): circa (±100 m) 1500 m asl (estimated after Survey of India sheet 78-O/11 edition 1974).POSITION 1997, 2007: WGS84 (±250 m) 25°18'10”N: 91°43'35”E / 25.302778°N: 91.726389°E (Gebauer, H D 1997.03.17): circa (±100 m) 1500 m asl (estimated after Survey of India sheet 78-O/11 edition 1974). APPROACH 1997-2009: The three inconspicuous, east-facing cave entrances are reached by descending the steep, jungle clad and east-facing escarpment some 75 vertical metres without path down to where a bundle of 3 inch and 4 inch diameter water tubes runs along the top of a near vertical cliff above the right (western) bank of Umstew river, which flows locally some 800 m or 850 m lower down. Following the water pipes upstream (northish, upon descending on the left), the first, impenetrable "entrance" met with is blocked and the second, manhole-sized entrance would require jumping 5 m down into a refreshing pool of unknown depth or shallowness, while the third entrance (about a metre wide and 1.5 m high), which lies vertically some 4 m or 5 m above the bundle of water pipes, is the most convenient to enter. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1996, literally quoted: »Shillong, Feb 23: A cave was discovered at Lum Synna recently, said an press release here today. The cave have been named Hawkhlieng [sic!] cave. The release stated that on February 13 a nine-member expedition -- led by Mr. W Khyllep, block development officer, Shella Bholaganj development block, and including village elders from Pdengshnong Sohra -- explored the newly-discovered cave which is more than 1,000 feet in length inside. A new source of water was also discovered inside the cave which is quite sufficient to meet the needs of the whole of Cherrapunjee area, if properly preserved. The cave is well-formed and attractive for tourists. It would certainly be another tourist spot and also a place for recreation for all persons visiting Cherrapunjee, is added« (KHYLLEP, W 1996.02.24 in: Meghalaya Guardian, Saturday, 24.02.1996, vol. 7, no. 53). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1997: The interstratal cave is formed along the bedding plane at the contact of Cherra Limestone (Lower Sylhet) with underlying Mahadek (Cherra) Sandstone. The sandstone is often exposed on the cave floor of active stream passages (up to 5 m high and wide), which tend to have a cross-section resembling an inverted letter "T". Apart from active streamways, at least two relic cave levels (abandoned by flowing water) at about 1.5 m and 3.5 m above the sandstone can be distinguished. These cave passages tend to be wide (2 m to more than 12 m) but rather low. The cave floor of the the abandoned passages is characterised by in-fillings, which often reach up to the ceiling. As far as known, the cave is almost devoid of secondary calcite formations but contains some aragonite cushions (apparently formed in a subaquaeous environment) and a few gypsum crystals (Gebauer 1997.03.29 updated 1998.02.11). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2005: »A small cave situated at the cliff below Lum Synna, about 4 km north of Sohra. Length is 2172 m« (KHARPRAN DALY, B D 2005 s.a.), CAVE DESCRIPTION 2006: »Die sub-horizontale Krem Lawkhlieng (zu Deutsch etwa "Adlerwald-Höhle") … liegt nahe Sohra / Cherrapunjee an der Steilstufe des Shillong Plateaus … [und] befindet sich in einem Bergrücken (Lum Synna), der auf einer etwa nach Süd verkippten Sandsteinebene (dem Lower Sylhet zugehöriger Cherra Sandstein) aufgesetzt ist. Die Höhle befindet sich in exponierter Lage hart am oberen Rand eines 850 m tief abfallenden und sich nach Norden in den Südrand des Shillong Plateaus einschneidenden Cañons. Das Kalksteinband, in dem die Höhle entwickelt ist, sitzt einem relativ verwitterungsresistenten und wasserstauenden Sandsteinuntergrund auf. Dieser limitiert die Verkarstung nach unten und ist stark Höhlencharakter bildend. Häufig läuft man in der Höhle direkt auf dem anstehenden Sandstein, oder auf Sandsteingeröllen. Die Krem Lawkhlieng fällt mit ca. 12% in Richtung 165°, entgegen dem generellen Nordfallen des Shillong Plateaus (am Südrand des Meghalaya Plateaus kommen zahlreiche Verwerfungen vor, die die geologische Situation erheblich verkomplizieren können). Drei kleine Fenster (eines davon für die Rohrverlegung genutzt) bilden Eingänge, die allerdings recht unbequem, weil steil und in Wasser mündend, sind. Einige Meter weiter nach Norden findet sich 5-8 m oberhalb der größere, einladende "Haupteingang". Auf der Suche nach diesem fanden wir noch zwei weitere Höhleneingänge, die ca. 4-6 m unterhalb der Rohre, die hangparallel verlegt wurden, aus dem fast überhängenden Fels treten und möglicherweise zu einer weiteren Etage der Krem Lawkhlieng gehören. … Viele Passagen sind an tektonischen Klüften orientiert; man findet diese Klüfte in der Mitte der Gangdecke. Die Gangprofile sind meist wie ein auf dem Kopf stehendes T geformt und eindeutig fluviatil angelegt. Eingeschwemmtes Holz, Bambus und Plastiktüten deuten auf saisonale Flutung während des Monsuns« (Breitenbach 2006.04.29 Mss version 2006.11.17; BREITENBACH & GEBAUER 2007: 7). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2014.12.17: »Arwah caves have been made accessible to common tourists by doing a lot of landscaping. This has been funded by the government and is responsible for generating some local income. The road to the caves have a bifurcation sign at the beginning. Feeling a bit adventurous, the other two guys wanted to take the rugged route. Although, my right knee disagreed, I decided to follow the guys. The rugged route turned out to be a long and winding trail to the cave entrance that was barely 250 meters from the bifurcation sign. At that point I felt like Amol Palekar from Chhoti Si Baat. The interiors of the cave is well lit in many places and is far easier to access than what we had been through earlier [Krem –>Mawsyrwait]. The caves, apart from young limestone stalactites in places, also had a lot of fossils preserved in the walls. Despite repeated notices prohibiting scribbling on cave walls, tourists have scribbled their names. Thankfully, the scribbling is restricted to the open areas near the entrance and not in the interiors« (sauvikbiswas.com/tag/cave-exploration posted 2014.12.17; accessed 2015.03.02). CAVE CONTENTS: Man-made dams and water pipes; rolled gravels, sandy and muddy sediments on the floor in addition to perched conglomerate deposits, and "pillows" or "tufts" of gypsum crystals (Norbert Marwan & Sebastian Breitenbach 2007.03.04 personal communication). PROSPECTS: Speleologically unexplored remain the following leads, which were neither mapped nor surveyed between March 1997 and January 2015: 1) About a dozen of belly crawls in the remote north-western region. 2) A complex of just about man-sized high-level rift passages between the north-south running part of the Pipe Dream and and the inner hand & knees loop (note 8). 3) A lead off west from an upper level in the "Crazy Bat Tunnel" (Breitenbach 2009.04.22 Mss "Khasi" e-mail). CULTURAL HISTORY - cave legend: Compare Krem U –>Rang Kathei. CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: Krem Lawkhlieng had been used as a source of water to supply for Sohra (Cherrapunjee) though it was not exactly bright idea to work not only coal at the head of catchment area but also to up up there a lime burning kiln (ka pajwa thang mawshun) which I saw used in 1997 and 1998 but left wasted in 2006. The water collected in the cave was conveyed to Sohra by 75 mm diameter pipes but the water supply was only sufficient during the rainy season (GUHA ROY, P K 1984: 12-13). In 1996, however, appeared a newspaper article which suggested not only that the cave is »well-formed and attractive for tourists« but also that the water provision of the cave »is quite sufficient to meet the needs of the whole of Cherrapunjee area, if properly preserved« (KHYLLEP, W 1996.02.24). At least up to February 2010 H. D. Gebauer assumed that the exposed approach and the lack of attractive speleothems forbids the cave's development as a tourist place. CAVE CLIMATE: At survey station 105/16: Air temperature 17.5°C, 84% relative humidity, water conductivity 160µS on 2007.03.02 circa 14h00. CAVE LIFE: Present on 4th March 2007 were terrestrial woodlice (Crustacea: Isopoda: conf. Oniscidae), Millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda: conf. Trachyjulidae: Trachyiulus mimus Silvestri 1924), very few bats (Chiroptera) and an unidentified, furry mammal resembling sort of a "snouted cat" (body length about 35 or 40 cm plus another 35 or 40 cm of tail), wearing a reddish - brown, somewhat fox coloured fur on its back but clean white on its belly. Both Christian W. Fischer (2008.02.26 personal correspondence: Schleichkatze) and Daniel B. Harries (2008.02.26 pers. corr.) suggested this may have been a Indian Civet (Viverridae, Desmarest 1804) and the image shown on viensdanslajungle.ch (accessed 2008.02.20) fits my flexible memory quite well. Also found was a clean but empty animal's nest (70 cm or 80 cm in diameter), built up from twigs cushioned with dry leaves and plastic scraps, crowned with a wreath of pointed leafes --possibly the home of a »rat« (rodent).

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 07/04/2016

NOTE 1: The original cave name Krem Lawkhlieng (Kharpran Daly, B D 1997.03.13 Mss) is found misprinted »Krem Hawkhlieng« (KHYLLEP, W 1996.02.24) and Simon J Brooks achieved all on his own to create the private spelling versions »Krem Lawknleing« (Brooks, S J in: BROOKS, S J et al 1998: 31) and »Krem Lawkhieng« (BROOKS, S J 2000b: 2). NOTE 2: ka 'láw (Khasi, noun), an abbreviation of ”ka khláw” (SINGH, N 1906: 111), binomial imitative: ka khlaw ka btab (SINGH, N 1906: 32), the jungle (SINGH, N 1906: 32, 111; SINGH, N 1920: 278; BLAH, E 2007: 159); forest (SINGH, N 1920: 188; BLAH, E 2007: 108); wood (SINGH, N 1920: 596; BLAH, E 2007: 334). But law (Khasi verb) means not only »to draw out, to extract, to dig out« (SINGH, N 1906: 32) but also »to take off, to extract, to undo« (SINGH, N 1906: 111). ka khlieng (SINGH, N 1906: 33) or ”u khlieng” (BLAH, E 2007: 162) is the word for »the eagle« (SINGH, N 1906: 33; SINGH, N 1920: 143) or »kite« (SINGH, N 1906: 33; BLAH, E 2007: 162) but the Khasi verb means »to clean the inside [of a vessel]« (SINGH, N 1906: 33).NOTE 3: Upon descending from »Churra« (Sohra) in autumn 1850, »hot gusts of wind blow up the valleys, alternating with clouds and mists, and it is curious to watch the effects of the latter in stilling the voices of insects (Cicadas) and birds. Common crows and vultures haunt the villages, but these, and all other large birds, are very rare in the Khasia. A very few hawks are occasionally seen, also sparrows and kingfishers, and I once heard a cuckoo; pheasants are sometimes shot, but we never saw any. Kites become numerous after the rains, and are regarded as a sign of their cessation« (HOOKER, J D 1854-1855, 2: 305). NOTE 4: »The Arwah Lumshynna tourist hub will enable the tourists to have a glimpse of the scenic beauty, cascading water falls, ancient rocks similar to the grand Canyons, precipices, caves and recreation parks for Children. The hubs have been created as one of the components of Cherrapunjee Ecological Project Restoration of Degradation Lands under Sohra (Cherrapunjee) Plateau to attract tourists and generate economic activities for the local people« (The Shillong Times 2014.10.26 online theshillongtimes.com/2014/10/26). NOTE 5: sohra.gov.in/photogallery_torhubarwah.html (accessed 2015.02.23). NOTE 6: Lum Shynna (lit. conspicuous hill), also: Lum Synna (KHYLLEP, W 1996.02.24) is indicated without name as the height »­ 5201"« (1585 m) on Survey of India toposheet 78-O/11 (edition 1938) but neither marked on the edition 1913 edition (One Inch series) nor on the 1974 edition (1: 50'000 series). Brian D Kharpran Daly (1997.03.13 Mss: "Twenty-five caves located" item no. 18) had recorded »Krem Lawkhlieng, located at Law Shynna (before reaching Cherrapunjee).« NOTE 7: ka um (Khasi, noun), binomial imitative: ka um - ka wah (SINGH, N 1906: 242), a stream [of water] (SINGH, N 1920: 500), river (SINGH, N 1920: 444), water (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxi; SINGH, N 1906: 242; SINGH, N 1920: 586; BLAH, E 2007: 330), fluid (SINGH, N 1920: 185; BLAH, E 2007: 106), juice (SINGH, N 1906: 242), liquid (SINGH, N 1920: 294; BLAH, E 2007: 330), liquor (BLAH, E 2007: 330), solvent (SINGH, N 1920: 484), wet (SINGH, N 1920: 589; BLAH, E 2007: 331), etc. u stew (Khasi; noun), a short reed or ekra (SINGH, N 1906: 211): »Ikra. A reed, Saccharum arundinaceum« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 25: xiii). »Die Fächer des Holzwerkes sind mit einer Art dünnem, aber starkem Bambus, Ikra genannt, ausgefüllt, und dieses ist mit Kalkmörtel beworfen« (BECKER, C 1927: 362-363). NOTE 8: »Arwah Cave Lumshynna hat noch ein unbekanntes oberes Stockwerk« (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss "Tagebuch" appendix: Nach der Expedition ist vor der Expedition). NOTE 9: The mere act of finding a cave is not a discovery but a find: »The word 'discovery' might well be reserved for the fruits of mental effort« (MEDLICOTT, H B 1883a: 3).NOTE 10: These »kms« (BROOKS, S J 2000b: 2) do not refer to the velocity "kilometres per second" but to the plural of the abbreviation "km" for the linear measure kilometre -- the number may be several but a unit is always one. NOTE 11: »Krem Lawkhlieng: Alles östlich des Pipe Dream abgeklappert und beigezeichnet (keine Zeit zum kartieren), BCRA grade 2? Aber immerhin alles sehr easy zu zeichnen. Ein Fragezeichen ist übrig: oberhalb eines Tunnels (Crazy Bat Tunnel = weil die crazy bat immer hin und her flog und dabei sehr lustig aussah) geht ein Abzeig … mglw. in das obere maze??? Auch hier wieder - später mehr« (Breitenbach, S F M 2009.04.22 personal correspondence). NOTE 12: »Fr 23.01.2015 Zur Arwah Cave Lumshynna. Auf die Frage, ob es einen Höhlenplan gäbe kam ein klares „Nein“. Den Schauteil vermessen. Zuletzt auf einen Meßpunkt gestoßen. Der Höhlenführer wußte auch zu bericheten, daß ein Deutscher die Höhle einst vermessen habe. Klar: H. Daniel Gebauer! Der DistoX-Plan ist sicherlich dennoch brauchbar für die Schauhöhle« (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss "Tagebuch" Fr 23.01.2015). NOTE 13: »Kurz vor der Einfahrt nach Sohra aus Richtung Shillong kommt man seit Oktober 2014 an einer Art Triumphbogen vorbei, der den Zugang zu einer neuen Höhlenattraktion, einem tourist hub, markiert, die jetzt als Schauhöhle geführte Arwah Lum Shynna. Einen halben Tag habe ich dort zugebracht und ausgiebig photographiert. Es ist erstaunlich, wie viele Menschen hier schon sich aufhalten, um sich ihre Brot zu verdienen, von der Frau, die einen Teestand unterwegs unterhält, über die Klofrau, die auf das öffentliche Klohäuserl aufpaßt, bis zu einer Gruppe junger Leute, die am Ende der Schauhöhle gegen ein paar Rupien neugierige Besucher noch weiter mit Hilfe ihrer Taschenlampen hineinführen« (Lindenmayr, F circa 2015.02.11 s.a. Mss: Meghalaya 2015).

Documents

Bibliography 07/04/2016

History

EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1984: GUHA ROY, P K (1984: 12-13) reported the water collected in the cave is conveyed to Sohra by 75 mm diameter pipes but the water supply is only sufficient during the rainy season. 1996: KHYLLEP, W (1996.02.24) and village elders from Pdengshnong Sohra (Upper Cherra) had explored the newly discovered cave called »Hawkhlieng« (sic!), which was more than »1000 feet« (300 m) long and situated at Lum Shynna (indicated by Brian D. Kharpran Daly). 1997.03.13: Brian D. Kharpran Daly had recorded »Krem Lawkhlieng, located at Law Shynna, before reaching Cherrapunjee« (Kharpran Daly, B D 1997.03.13 Mss: "Twenty-five caves located" item no. 18). 1997.03.17: H. D. Gebauer and Brian D. Kharpran Daly, guided by Caldi Khongsit and assisted by Gregory D. Diengdoh, Shelley A. Diengdoh, Kynsai Jones, Lynrah Jones, Lieut.-Col. Fairweather W. Mylliemngap, B. Vitus Rymmai and Raphael Warjri mapped a 1512 m long loop.1997.03.29: H. D. Gebauer, B. D. Kharpran Daly and Caldi Khongsit, assisted Kynsai Jones, Lynrah Jones and Raphael Warjri mapped 532 m of maze passages (total: 2044 m). 1998.02.11: H. D. Gebauer, Valery Lalvula and Andrew "Andy" Peter Tyler mapped 114 m of crawls (2158 m). On this occasion, it was Simon J Brooks who created not only an interesting private spelling version of the cave's name but also drew the attention of gentlemen with a taste for long ones to a so-called »the discovery [note 9] of Krem Lawkhieng [sic!] which at just over 2 kms [note 10] in length makes the total length of cave passages know [sic!] in the Cherrapunjee area in excess of 8 kms« (BROOKS, S J 2000b: 2). 2006.03.22: Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach discovered two active resurgence entrances below the lowest known point of the cave. On the same day, S. Breitenbach (speleographer) and H. D. Gebauer (speleometer) surveyed a loop (164.6 m) through the maze next to the entrance (2006 total 2310.22 m). 2007.03.04: Norbert Marwan (speleographer), Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach (measuring tape) and H. D. Gebauer (instruments) spent four hours in the cave, mapping 238.3 m (including re-surveyes) in »Löffelgang« (Spoon Passage) and finding the 2nd dam had been increased in height leaving a mere 30 cm of roof space to exit (2007.03.04 total: 2398.32 m). 2007.03.11: Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach (book and instruments) mapped and recorded 221.32 m of additional survey legs, assisted by H. D. Gebauer (tape), explorer Brian D. Kharpran Daly and luggage dragger Ksan Kupar "Ronnie" Mawlong (2007.03.11 total passage length 2519.69 m, total survey length 2946.98 m). 2009.04.06-19 (between): Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach (2009.04.22 Mss: Khasi), Jonathan Donges, Torsten Kohn and Till Kohn (BREITENBACH, S F M et al 2009) surveyed some 240 m (BCRA grade 2b) and pushed more than a dozen leads (note 11) from the Pipe Dream off to the west or lateral to it (2009.04 passage length 2760 m [2520 m grade 4b + 240 m grade 2b], total survey length 2946.98 m). 2014.10.25: The cave was developed into a managed show cave with a well-paved footpath leading to the cave entrance, an entrance fee (IRs 10 in January 2015), electric illumination and complete with an official »Inauguration of Tourist Hub at Arwah Lumshynna, Pdengshnong, Sohra, 25th Oct 2014« resulting in a certain »Arwah Lum Shynna Tourist Hub located at Pdeng Shnong, about 52 Kms from Shillong, being inagurated [sic!] as an alternative source of employment and improvement of the economy of the local community with the support of Soil and Water Conservation Deptt., Govt. of Meghalaya« (sohra.gov.in/photogallery_torhubarwah.html accessed 2015.02.23). 2015.01.23: Harald "Harry" Scherzer resurveyed (DistoX) a selection of the visitors' part in the »Arwah Showcave« (Scherzer, H 2015.02.02 personal correspondence) or »Arwah Cave Lumshynna« (note 12). At this stage of expedition show caving, Franz Lindenmayr spent half a day to take photographs not only inside the cave and out of it but also back home (note 13). Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 07/04/2016

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
0.1RANG KATHEI (Krem U)
1.9AA Cave, Sohra (Sud Gatphoh and Patra 2000)
2.9LAITRYNGEW (Tyler 2001) (Par poh)
3.9Lum Lawbah: Sink 2
4.4LUM LAWBAH CAVE 2 (aa -)
4.4LUM LAWBAH CAVE 3 (aa -)
4.4POMASAN (Cave at)
4.5THLEN, Pomdaloi -- the cave (Krem U)
4.5DAIN THLEN (Krem)